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Decorating on a Shoestring

MORE Storage Solutions for Your Clutter

So now you've got all your clutter sorted out and your "keepers" are in boxes, bins and piles.    Ideally, you've put things away in their proper places, where those places exist! But where the heck is it all going to go?

This is where you need to invest in or create proper storage solutions that avoid wasted space and lead to easy retrieval of needed items.  We'll tackle the solutions by the type of storage the provide:

• Closet and cupboard organizers

• Boxes, Bins and Baskets

• Shelves and Hooks

• Space Savers - double duty furnishings

Organizers discussed here are affordable and easy solutions to clutter. Often, you can make your own from left over wood or plastic. They are available online at reputable sites like

Solutions

Get Organized

Hooks and shelves help you use every square inch of wall space effectively - and they can even be used to create "walls".

Free-standing shelving units can be open or with doors to conceal or protect the contents.  They come in a variety of styles that can go against walls, or be used as a room divider.  Units with doors are available for kitchens to act as a pantry or any area in your home where you don't want the contents on display.  Glass door units allow the display of books, kitchen, bath or bedroom items, and collectibles while protecting them from dust (and children's fingers).  

Smaller two or three shelf units can go on top of dressers, desks and sideboards to act as a hutch.  Larger ones can hold entertainment or computer equipment as well as books, videos, CDs, and other supplies. Use freestanding bookcases or stacked cube style books cases as room dividers.  These are excellent to separate an entry from a living room, and can hold decorative items as well as storage baskets (in part 1 of this article) containing hats and gloves, school bags, etc.

Wall-mounted shelves can be added to walls, under cupboards or in closets.  Try adding sturdy wall shelving above your home office and homework desk areas to hold your reference books and manuals.  Most clothes closets have wasted space above the clothes racks, so go ahead and add another shelf up there to hold off-season items.  Display your cookbooks and keep things like phone directories or catalogues handy on shelves installed below upper kitchen cabinets, or on wall space without any cabinetry.  Shallow shelves are excellent for organizing spices and cake-decorating items, or art supplies .  Deep ones hold anything from linens and folded clothing to storage baskets.  Decorative and plain types of brackets are available for wall mounted shelving. "Floating" shelves are very popular and can be purchased in premade kits for do-it-yourselfers.

Wall mounted shelves with hooks or rods do double duty by holding anything from books, to hats and mitts, to storage baskets on the shelf, and providing hanging space for clothes and other items below.  Hanging units are available that allow you to suspend more shelves from the bottom of wall mounted shelves.  These are excellent for holding mail and sorting papers for homework or home office areas.

Over-the-door or rod-hung shelves and racks come in metal, plastic, wood and fabric varieties, designed to hang from clothes rods or on walls or the backs of doors. They are great for providing a place to store washcloths, towels and bath items on the back of the bathroom door.  Over-the-door rack type devices can also be used to hang ironing boards as well as store your iron in your laundry area.  These types of organizers are available to store anything from arts and crafts supplies, to shoes, to wrapping papers supplies, and much, much more. Where space permits on the back of bedroom or closet doors, shelves and racks can hold robes, backpacks, tomorrow's clothes, or even brief cases.

Hooks come in all types for hanging anything from clothes and oven mitts to ironing boards and bicycles.  Heavy duty ones can hold heavy yard tools, bicycles, sporting equipment, etc. in garages and workshops.  Pegboards with their smaller hooks are excellent for hanging anything from hand tools and garden hoses, to house keys and craft supplies, as well as being able to hang additional shelves on the pegboard too. 

Hooks can also be used to hang shelves or potted plants from window frames.  Try a shelf holding small pots of savory herbs in a sunny kitchen window.

Hooks on suction cups hold oven mitts or hand towels securely to smooth surfaces, like the front of your stove or a tile backsplash or wall.  Peel-and-stick-on hooks are excellent for small clearances behind doors to hold clothing or towels, and there are varieties available now that are reusable and do not leave marks or damage on walls when removed.

Find furniture that works hard. Sleep overnight guests in a sofa bed, or hide a Murphy-type bed in a wall unit that can double as a fold-down table. Opt for ottomans and upholstered benches with storage inside that double as coffee tables and chairs.  Invest in chairs and ottomans that turn into beds.  Try sofas that flip open to provide storage for extra blankets.  Use tables with adjustable leg heights that can be a coffee table by day and a dining table tonight, AND that have a lower shelf for storage. Use toy chests for seating by adding an upholstered cushion.  Use window seats for storage.  Add a wide, long shelf to the top of storage cubes, low dressers or chests of drawers to create a desk or work surface.  Use shelf brackets to affix a home or office work surface to the sides of  two taller dressers or bookcases, or between the furniture and a wall.

Roll with it!  In the kitchen, use sturdy utility carts or chopping blocks on casters - ideally with shelving above and/or below.  If you have a sturdy cart now without shelving, add one or more shelves to make them do double duty. The same can be done with tool carts, computer workstations, art centers, and other items that can go on casters to roll out for use, and put off to the side when not needed.  Put printers, scanners, fax machines, etc. on rolling carts that provide storage for the paper and other supplies they require.  Keep them low enough to roll under the desk when not in use.  In laundry rooms, use free standing clothes racks and drying racks on casters, so they can be rolled out to use, and also be stored out of the way.  Add casters to ottomans and chests to easily switch them from side or coffee table use into extra seating.

Down under.  Add attractive storage baskets below benches, side tables, buffets, dressers, and even dining tables where leg room allows.  Add storage drawers or bins under beds, sofas and chairs.  Store office and homework supplies in cubes or crates below the desk.  Use lid racks on lower kitchen cabinet doors to hold pot and container lids. Attach microwaves, paper towel holders, and  toaster ovens to the bottom of kitchen cabinets to free up counter space.  Use a large plastic storage box to hold laundry, and place on a utility cart that holds laundry supplies on the lower shelf.

Divide and conquer.  Book cases make excellent room dividers (see Shelves and Hooks above).  Open ones allow light to filter through to the next "room" as well as acting as storage and display areas.  Bookcases or tall dressers make good dividers in bedrooms, dens, basements or small apartments to separate sleeping or entertainment areas from living or office/homework areas. A sofa can be used to divide a room without creating as much of a visible barrier.  Add a sofa table, buffet or bookcase behind it, accessible from the other "room", and you have separation and storage solutions.

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